UPDATE 10:58 UTC : In this earthquake, the devastating tsunami affected coastal districts of Iwate Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture, and a lot of people are missing, the whole picture of the damage is unknown. As of 10:59 UTC today, but so far only been confirmed, 33 people died in Kanto and Tohoku, and he has a large number of missing and injured.

UPDATE 10:56 UTC : First reports from Taiwan are that the tsunami has only had minor effects along the coastline. Let us hope for similar scenarios in other Pacific nations.

UPDATE 10:52 UTC : Official death toll has risen to 32. However many more are missing.

UPDATE 10:46 UTC : Russian authorities evacuated 11,000+ residents from coastal areas on Pacific islands before they were hit by the tsunami waves. The regional emergency officials said that the waves reached several towns and villages on the Kurils.

UPDATE 10:32 UTC : FDMA has released the following damage data. In addition there are at least 300 rescue workers around the place at different locations from FDMA as of 1906 Japanese Time.

There are 29 dead, and at least 200 missing. Much damage is shown below - however there is much more expected.

The damage caused - please refer to parts 1-5.(1) Deaths and injuries:
Iwate: One dead in Kuji
Two dead in Yamada
1 person killed in the tsunami swept the car (unknown location)
Miyagi: 2 people dead in the global community baseball field in the tube Sennan
An unknown number dead in the town Shitigahama (unknown number)
Six injured in the city of Kurihara
4 people buried alive in the city of Sendai
Fukushima: One dead in a local regional Sukagawa
Buried alive in mudslides caused five homes Shirakawa
Ibaraki: One dead and buried under a building in the city Hitatioota
1 person killed by collapsing buildings in the city of Hitachi, one cardiac arrest
Two people injured in the city Inashiki (heart conditions)
Fire Emergency Disaster Relief Team at Saitama nuclear power plant in Tokai village chimney
Three rescued (minor injury)
In addition to currently being reviewed

(2) Property Damage
Miyagi: 3 buildings collapsed buildings in the city of Kurihara
Fukushima: Iwaki City, the building has collapsed in many other areas also building collapses in Fukushima
Building total collapse in a special nursing home district Soma
Precipitation of three floating roof oil tank outside the complex Onahama Iwaki Area Iwaki City with Deaths
Chiba: collapsed buildings in the city of Narita

(4) Tsunami effects
Iwate: Miyako District in the tsunami flooded some homes
City 4 submerged town Rikuzentakata City (unspecified)
300 buildings or out over the collapse of Ofunato
Miyagi: 10 residential buildings in the city of Ishinomaki
20 residents in Sendai Kounan breakwater, which left two police officers stranded
Fukushima: the number of people being left behind by the tsunami on the coast in the Soma district
Ibaraki Prefecture: Tsunamis in the town center Ooarai

UPDATE 10:18 UTC : Japanese news has reported the following:- Due to the immense amount of data around, we will do our best to provide a summary:- There are 29 dead, and at least 200 missing.

In Iwate Prefecture, the police indicate that, in addition to 12 people were confirmed dead, and there are a large number of missing people in the tsunami.

In Miyagi Prefecture, the town supermarket Rihu "Jusco" has a fallen ceiling killing a six-year-old and the mother also is a serious condition. People have been killed by falling debris in the city of Ishinomaki.
Because of the tsunami, cities such as Ishinomaki and Kesennuma, have many missing persons.
In addition, there is information that is out of Shitigahama that people have been killed, and there are more reports.
25 people wounded in the city of Kurihara.

In Fukushima Prefecture, the collapse of the homes in the city of Minami Souma, and a dozen people trapped under the building, with five people confirmed dead.
Sukagawa people were killed in the city, - nine people. Also, the city of Shirakawa, mudslides buried houses - information that there were nine people involved.

Ibaraki Prefecture, for example, many buildings collapsed, killing two people, in addition to two people with cardio-respiratory arrests (heart attack deaths), and a lot of injured. 2 people in the town of Hokota were also swept away by the tsunami.

In Chiba Prefecture, the roof fell on 67-year-old man, died from hitting his head. Narashino City has 96 year-old man died at home.

In Tokyo, the other two were killed, in addition to the unconscious and in critical condition people and up to at least 45 people injured.

In Tochigi prefecture, also people have been killed.

UPDATE 10:14 UTC : The following list of aftershocks has been recorded including M7.4 and M7 aftershocks

UPDATE 10:11 UTC : Following data from a few Japanese newspapers.
In Iwate Prefecture 10 deaths confirmed by the tsunami. At least three people were killed in Miyagi Prefecture. Fire and Disaster Management Agency said today at 4:30 pm, a fire occurred in a number of six prefectures. According to the police and fire departments in various regions, there have been many landslides, and over 1000 people are trapped in various locations.

UPDATE 10:05 UTC : If you are in any coastal locations on the pacific. Please check the relevant tsunami warning pages, as you are most likely in severe danger. Tsunami warnings issued for countries including Russia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru.

UPDATE 10:04 UTC : The FDMA continues to put out the 44 major fires in six prefectures.

UPDATE 10:00 UTC : There is no more news of casualties, however we do know that there are many missing in locations around Sendai. The tsunami has killed at least 10 in Tohoku province, and many more expected.

UPDATE 09:10 UTC : Details from Japan:-

The death toll from the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake is now 19.

The dead include a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area.

Three were crushed to death when their houses collapsed in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.

At least five people have been reported dead in Fukushima province, and many are feared buried in rubble after a hotel collapses in northern city Sendai, reports Reuters. Again, it is unknown how much damage the wave did.

At least three people dead in Kanto province.

But the worst hit provinces should have many more.

Unfortunately, the timing came during the day - and this will have caused massive losses of people in underground carparks etc. The coast has been rocked by earthquakes during the last week, and thus people may not have obeyed all warnings thinking that it was just another shock.

The car park at Tokyo Disneyland was drenched with water-logged segments from the ground.

Just some historical background from CATDAT:-

1933 Sanriku earthquake was a Mag 8.4 and was around the same distance offshore as this one.

This killed 3064 people.

UPDATE 09:00 UTC : Death toll has risen to 5, with more expected. We are waiting on the 3rd update from FDMA. 3 killed in the Kanto region.

Waves of up to 10m were reported from Sendai. There are still damaging aftershocks occurring.

We know however that there are major losses in the most affected prefectures - and we have no loss values from the ground at this time.

UPDATE 08:50 UTC : Just repeating that this earthquake and tsunami is likely to exceed the highest ever recorded loss from an earthquake -CATDAT is reporting in excess of $100 billion damage with the upper bound being around $1 trillion USD.

Great Kanto 1923 - $214 billion USD (in 2011 dollars)

Sichuan 2008 - $151 billion USD (in 2011 dollars)

Kobe 1995 - $142 billion USD (in 2011 dollars)

It can be seen that historic earthquakes in Japan cause a large amount of damage due to the high infrastructure costs.

UPDATE 08:40 UTC : Much damage has occurred along the eastern coast. At the moment the FDMA (Fire Disaster Management Agency) is overwhelmed, as usually they are the first to report. They have instances of fires, deaths, injuries etc.

The JMA has this earthquake as a dual 7.9 earthquake - with a double shock occurring.

UPDATE 08:30 UTC : Back with you.

There have been at least 3 deaths. Of course, this will rise.Â In addition, there have been many aftershocks.

Of course, if you are in any other Pacific country and live on the coast, please take appropriate precautions. Check here for up to the minute details.

UPDATE 08:09 UTC : We will be leaving you for a short interval (20 mins). I am just heading in to my office at CEDIM (Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany). There, I have updated models, and much more access to information than at home. Please continue to update as we will be back online soon.

Sendai (1 million population) has been very much destroyed.

UPDATE 08:06 UTC : Japan has called for international assistance. Unfortunately with the proximity of the Christchurch earthquake a few days ago - it is necessary for some Japanese quake experts to head back from NZ.

UPDATE 08:00 UTC :

We are having issues with servers, so please be patient. We will give you loss statistics as soon as they come to hand.

We can say that everywhere where there is orange and red on the graphic - there is substantial damage.

Sendai and other areas such as Miyagi Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Tochige Prefecture and a little bit of Iwate has had major losses.

We have had only "I am Safe" messages from the QuakeSOS account.

Yokote should be ok - intensity IV-V and it is not likely that there is tsunami damage.

Please call Japan, only if completely necessary as there are communication problems.

UPDATE 10/03 - 07:49 UTC :The strong aftershocks have decreased a lot the last 8 hours. More strong to moderate aftershocks can be expected the next week, Japanese seismologist predict.

UPDATE 19:18 UTC :USGS is reporting a magnitude of 6.3 at a depth of 2 km for the second very strong aftershock.

UPDATE 19:13 UTC :GDACS published a GREEN earthquake alert for both aftershocks = very limited chance on damage and/or injuries

UPDATE 19:04 UTC : A new aftershock measuring M 6.1 at a depth of 10 km occurred 28 minutes after the M 6.2 aftershock ! It will be a sleepless night for a lot of Japanese people.

UPDATE 18:55 UTC : A lot of people will be waken up by this very strong aftershock. Although NO damage is expected it is always a scary event while occurring in the middle of the night. People never know where the the epicenter is located (unless they consult media). In this particular case people do know that the quake will be probably an aftershock from the M 7.3 mainshock from this morning.

UPDATE 18:47 UTC :Theoretical casualties and damage models are confirming that this aftershock will result in NO damage and NO casualties/injuries.

UPDATE 18:39 UTC :EMSC has changed its value to 6.4 at a depth of 15 km. No damage or tsunami expected.

UPDATE 18:35 UTC : The strongest aftershock so far. A 6.2 magnitude (EMSC 5.9) in the same area than the mainshock = safe distance from the coast. NO tsunami alerts have been called. It occurred at 03:16 AM local time.

UPDATE 17:29 UTC : This update to give our readers an idea about the number and the strength of the aftershocks after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake (7.3 is the JMA magnitude value)

UPDATE 15:45 UTC :40 out of the 42 lifts in the Tokyo government buildings (240 meters high !) stopped as a result of the swaying and went automatically to the next available floor. Everybody could evacuate the lifts safely. Tall building sway a lot and lifts are equipped with automatic safety gear. And ... it worked well.

UPDATE 15:45 UTC :Some Oyster rafts (Aquaculture) in one of the Kesennuma Bay dropped to the sea floor.

UPDATE 15:30 UTC : Teachers have reported that children in all type of the schools dropped immediately on the floor and did hide under their desk until the shaking was over. Japan is an example in integrating earthquake drills in education.

UPDATE 15:10 UTC : The quake lasted rather long (see live seismograph)

UPDATE 14:16 UTC :Testimony of the 31st floor in Akasaka - the building moved for about 10 minutes... (creaking wall panels and funky drunk-like feeling

UPDATE 8:42 UTC :Japanese seismologists are predicting moderate aftershocks for at least 1 week. Since the mainshock,Â 14 aftershocks ranging in between 4.7 and 5.7 have hit the same area.

UPDATE 8:35 UTC :Some very light damage was recorded in the elementary school of GozyoumeÂ and in the city of Yazawa. Yazama is located inland in a mountainous area.

UPDATE 8:08 UTC : Underground water pipes broke in Akita as a result of the earthquake. There is however NO damage related to this incident.

UPDATE 7:30 UTC : A video from Japanese ANN station reporting on the Tsunami - You cant see a lot, but keep in mind that although tsunami waves can be predicted, the tension remains high until the tsunami alarm is canceled. Tsunami alarm is a main media item in Japan and elsewhere in the world.

Japan JMA tsunami equipment is among the best in the world. The JMA predicted waves were very accurate. You will not be able to see the 30 to 50 cm wave on the video, but due to the continuous force of the wave, even small tsunamis can make some damage.

UPDATE 7:13 UTC :At 14:50 local time (the earthquake occurred at 11:45 local time) ALL JMA tsunami warnings and advisories were canceled in Japan.

UPDATE 7:03 UTC : Based on all recordings so far max. tsunami waves were 0.6 m in Ofunato and 0.5 m in Kuji-ko and Ayukawa. This are all JMA observation station measurements. At some parts of the coasts, tsunamis may be higher than those observed at the observation sites.

UPDATE 6:58 UTC :JMA only published limited tsunami waves of up to 0.5 meter (in accordance with reality).

UPDATE 6:41 UTC :The Japanese JMA seismic scale (JMA stands for Japan Meteorological Agency) is has a scale with max. 7 (compared to XII for the MMI scale).Â 4 or -5 JMA is a considerable shaking.

UPDATE 6:38 UTC :Japanese Police has reported that NO damage or injuries have been recorded by their different stations.

UPDATE 6:37 UTC :Japanese "bullet trains" on the route from Shiraishi-Zao to Shin-Aomori were stopped as a precautionary measure, but could resume their normal service shortly after inspection.

UPDATE 6:33 UTC : Most strong aftershocks are located in the area than the mainshock at a safe distance out of the coast.

UPDATE 6:26 UTC :According to According to JapanToday,Â the Tohoku Electric Power Co. reprted that there were no quake-induced abnormalities detected at its Onagwawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture. Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. said no damages were reported at its Aomori nuclear fuel facilities.

UPDATE 6:23 UTC : A 60cm-high tsunami wave was reported at Ofunato port in Iwate Prefecture, local authorities said, which is still in line with JMA expectations.

UPDATE 6:22 UTC :JMA did calculate that the maximum height of the tsunami waves would reach 0.5 meter.

UPDATE 6:20 UTC : Although a widespread Pacific Tsunami was not expected by NOAA, the Japenese seismological services did publish a TSUNAMI ALERT for the Japanese Pacific Coast.

UPDATE 6:11 UTC : Contrary to the theoretically calculated Felt V MMI values of USG, the local people have experienced this earthquake a lot more severe. A strong JMA 4 shaking (comparable to MMI VI) has been experienced by people in the Myiagi, Iwati and Aomori prefectures.

UPDATE 6:11 UTC :The Japanese people are among the BEST earthquake prepared people in the world.

UPDATE 6:10 UTC :A -5 JMA felt value has been recorded for the following stations : Kurihara-shi Kannari, Tome-shi Yoneyamacho, Tome-shi Hasamacho, Miyagi Misato-machi Kimatsuka. This value can be compared to MMI as a VI to VII value.

UPDATE 5:54 UTC :A similar earthquake (magnitude and depth) below the coastal towns would have been devastating.

UPDATE 5:52 UTC :All theoretical damage and casualty systems have been conclusive with the same result : NO casualties and NO injured

UPDATE 5:48 UTC :Following the GDACS index table, the earthquake was felt by 3,418,561 people within a 200 km radius from the epicenter. There were however NO people living within a 100 km radius.

UPDATE 5:41 UTC :Based on the Felt reports from the Japanese seismological Service, the massive earthquake was felt over 2/3 of Honshu and also on Hokkaido, the island to the north of Honshu

UPDATE 5:37 UTC : A V MMI shaking will not provoke important damage on the coast.

UPDATE 5:35 UTC : The max. calculated MMI value for the coastal areas is a moderate V = moderate shaking. Following USGS, this will have been felt by approx. 5,900,000 people !

UPDATE 5:27 UTC : 8 powerful aftershocks have been recorded since the mainshock 2:40 ago. The strongest aftershock was a M 5.7

A massive earthquake struck around noon (local time) at a safe distance out of the Honshu coast.

GDACS soon issued a GREEN tsunami alert, making clear that a huge tsunami was not expected.

Due to the shallow depth of the hypocenter the main shaking impact will be limited on the coastal towns.

The epicenter of the earthquake was on top of the subduction slope.

The subduction faulting zone along the Honshu coast generates regular very strong earthquakes. Most of the earthquakes are however located in the sea at a safe distance out of the coast.

NOAA published a statement that a tsunami was NOT expected along the pacific coastal areas.

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 7.2
UTC time : Wednesday, March 09, 2011 at 02:45:18 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Wednesday, March 09, 2011 at 11:45:18 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 14.1 km
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QuakeSOS+ is an iPhone application developed by Armand Vervaeck, the creator and main contributor to Earthquake Report. The Application simplifies immediate group communication to friends and family members (with your exact GPS location) and is constantly feeding the users with œEarthquake Report news. Together with your own family and friends, QuakeSOS+ will be your closest earthquake friend. Buying QuakeSOS+ will support the activities of SOS Earthquakes.

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Quake-Maps.comwas also created by SOS Earthquakes. Quake-Maps.com makes it easy to let the world know which shaking people have experienced during the earthquake. Quake-Maps.com gives also the opportunity to write some additional text. Filling up the form takes only 1 minute. Quake-Maps.com gives an overview of all the resent earthquakes and let you even go back in time and retrieve earthquakes of a certain date in the past.

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This is your post template. Shouldn't you add a little more?This is your post template. Shouldn't you add a little more?

The selection of a weak Magnitude, a 24 hour delivery on a worldwide list would result in an avalanche of emails (each earthquake will generate an E-mail). A more selective Magnitude, delivery option and area of your interest will give the best result.

As we have decided not to use a control panel or password, the parameters of your subscription can only be changed by canceling your subscription (link in each Email we send). To fine-tune your options, simply generate a new subscription.

We will not share your E-mail with anyone else, it will be used only for earthquake alerts.

Please make sure that you are white listing our emails as otherwise they may be deviated to your spam folder.

This may seem like a stupid question but does anyone know how long the earthquake lasted? I have read estimates of 2 minutes but the website is not reliable. Please post answer if you know. I am praying for all the people of Japan and other countries that have loved ones in the area. God bless.

Mary, This is a very intelligent question, and we will try to get a reliable answer soon -The time that an earthquake lasted in of HUGE importance to self detect the potential of a tsunami. In one of my Mentawai (Indonesia 2010) tsunami articles is a quote from an famous seismologist who had a simple formula to detect a real treat. If you experience a severe shaking (MMI VII) for longer than 30 seconds : RUN TO HIGHER GROUNDS to be safe. We will come back to you with more information later.

Hello,
I used to live in Shirakawa-shi, Fukushima prefecture and I am wondering how badly the city was destroyed? Have many people died?

I send out my love and support to all students from James English School, and my friends that still live there. My heart goes out to all of you who are struggling in Japan right now. Its such a tragedy.

Hi Jennifer,
At the moment the following figures come from Shirakawa-shi, Fukushima.
4 dead, 11 injured.
99 completely collapsed buildings, 419 partially destroyed buildings, 317 partially damaged buildings.
I hope that all the students are ok.
All the best,
James.

Hi Casey,
Aichi prefecture has no damage reports, so I would not worry too much. There are many power and telephone cuts across Japan.
Obu City has not been damaged according to FDMA.
All the best,
James.

Hello, I'm trying to locate British Interac teacher Simon Green - age 23, roughly 6ft blonde hair blue eyes. Last known location was Sumita High school, Ofunato, Iwate. If you have any news or have seen anyone of this description our families would really appreciate an update!

My thoughts are with all those affected up north. Thank you, Yasmine K.

Hi James,
thank you for your reply. Both Enlgish teachers Simon Green and Alice have made flights to safety thanks to the courageous efforts of an Austrailian representative. Simon is now safe in Hiroshima with me, I and his family are greatly relieved.
Our prayers go out to everyone in the devasted areas. Thank goodness we are getting help!

Click here for our in-depth report of the September 8 M8.1 Chiapas/Oaxaca/Tabasco mainshock Are you one of the people who felt the shaking of this earthquake? If Yes, please let us know what you experienced by filling up the I FELT IT form behind the earthquake or at the bottom of this page. Thank you [...]

A massive earthquake off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico was responsible for a human tragedy on 2 levels, the loss of live and the massive loss in property as thousands of houses were damaged and/or destroyed. Read al about it in this article. Luckily, the epicenter was relatively far out of the coast and the hypocenter was at an intermediate depth.